My guess (this is my guess and I don't know what I am talking about half the time) is you underpitched causing the off flavors. Half a vial for a 5 gallon batch is a bit short. Hence 3 days to see signs of fermentation. The yeast had to get their numbers up first.
Congrats on the first batch!! I have been brewing all grain batches on the stove top. 2.5 gallon batches are easily doable on the stove top. I mash in the oven BIAB. Works like a charm. There are ways to get around buying expensive equipment.
Just my opinion but I would say wort chiller. You could continue to use dry yeast for awhile eliminating the need for a stir plate. You have to cool every batch of wort however. :drunk:
First of all I LOVE the look of your chamber. I am curious how many pallets approximately it took to cover the outside. I can get them in my area for 2 bucks apiece. Need to crunch the numbers if I am better off with nice plywood.
How do you control your fermentation temps? From what I have read, the number one thing a new brewer needs to get right, besides sanitation, is keeping the yeast in the "bingo" zone.
It's not about being as cheap as possible. In fact I already have an 8 gallon aluminum pot. I like the way the video used the elements and wiring from the cheap kettles. I am kind of thinking of this setup in a cooler to bring strike water to temp then dough in and mash all in one container.
Thanks for the link. I've been lurking for quite awhile and have noticed there are some items that seem to get people fired up. Oh well. No skin off my back. Cheers.
Also found this information online about HDPE "HDPE is also somewhat harder and more opaque and it can withstand rather higher temperatures (120° Celsius for short periods, 110° Celsius continuously)." So a 60 or 90 minute boil should not be a problem. Theoretically.